Features

Ice fishing has become part of history

ESCANABA -- The snows sift like sand through an hour glass out across the ice of Little Bay de Noc.

There is a fishermen's knot that ties history and humor on the ice.

The ice seems ageless. The memories of ice fishing with grandparents, uncles, cousins and buddies drift like apparitions in the frozen mist.

Delta County ice fishing is a famous thing. From being labeled the "walleye fishing capital of the world" to being the home of many Jig-it and ice fishing tournaments, the Bays de Noc ice has seen a lot of action.

Back in the early 1950's, Grandpa donned his old Mackinaw coat and his lined chopper mittens and headed east on to the bay. A hand ice auger and ice chisel scooted along with him on the wooden sled.

Up at the head of the bay near Gladstone, the ice cover thickened and spread the earliest. Fish shacks sprung up overnight forming colorful shanty towns. Hard water fishing was a wonderful way to beat the winter blahs and provide a tasty meal as well.

In the olden days, ice fishing was a pretty simple thing. Most folks made their own ice shacks out of whatever scraps of wood they had laying around. Small, lightweight, sturdy runners and a tiny wood stove were essential shack parts back then.

The old Ford Model A truck moved a few ice fishermen around before there were snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles.

Power augers, fish finders and cameras were unheard of back then. But walleye, perch, pike and white fish were all too real in the olden days!

Ice fishing is part history and that that's why it's always a good idea to reminisce about those ice fishing days of old.

Humor is another important part of ice fishing. Put a few characters in a tiny fish shack out on the bleak and barren ice for several hours of staring down a hole, and I'm sure funny jokes, stories and pranks are sure to happen.

The outside elements are harsh so inside ice fishermen and women have to have a great sense of humor. They have to know how to exaggerate, BS, laugh at the big ones that get away and patient even when your butt is sore and your feet are cold.

Ice fishermen enjoy a wonderful sense of camaraderie.  Shack hopping or hole hopping is a nice way to socialize with your fishing buddies and a good way to find out if anybody is catching anything.

Earlier this winter Players de Noc presented a totally fun play called "Guys On Ice." This play captured the true meaning of ice fishing the tradition, the fun and the friendship.

Many of us have seen the movie" Grumpy Old Men" a dozen times because it too tells us about important things in life fishing, friendship family values (maybe not in that order).

Back in the 1970's perch were plentiful on the Bay and my family shared hours of fun in the shack, laughing at someone's twisted lines, or the mud-puppy police, or sharing the candy treats that meant you caught a keeper.

Today ice fishing has changed. Warmer winters, more bubblers and ice breaking, and not so many fish, make the sport a bit more challenging. The fancier equipment and warmer shacks make it more comfortable.

Use caution and common sense if you go out on the ice. If you catch a fish... enjoy the history and a little humor of a Upper Michigan tradition!

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Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.